Drakes
Drakes are mountable creatures that appear in Middle-earth: Shadow of War. Description The drakes of Mordor are a breed created by Sauron; drakes are infertile, dragon-fellbeast cross hybridized by the Dark Lord in the pits of Barad-dûr. While much smaller and less intelligent than their "greater" forebears (such as Smaug the Golden, Glaurung and Ancalagon the Black), they retain the ability to breath fire and can prove a powerful force on the battlefield. The individual utilized by Witch-king of Angmar breathes flames which are blue and sickly green in coloration, somewhat akin to the aura of Minas Morgul. (This may have been the result of the Witch-king's foul magic.) Drakes are fearsome predators whose favorite prey include Great Eagles that strayed into the lands of Mordor, and they are adept scavengers having no qualms against scraping a meal off the ground if need be. Drakes are also cunning and stubborn; so much so that taming them is almost impossible without aid of magic. Although some of orcs try to tame them, others pay attention so as not to leave carrion out under the open sky and attract drakes that will seek fresh prey after finishing their first meal. These drakes are distinguished by bony protrusions extending from their lower jaw and along their backs, grey-green scales, and heavily armored skulls. Individuals mounted by Nazgûl that wear similar armor to fellbeasts mounted by Nazgûl are considerably larger than other individuals mounted by Talion and Celebrimbor. Even though drakes were created by Sauron and inhabit lands of Mordor, they are not married to the dark side and will face off the Dark Lord's forces depending on circumstances (other than feeding on orcs). Many drakes had been captured and imprisoned by the dark side, being enslaved to be flamethrowers. Once they are freed, they tend to attack any orcs nearby. Carnan, the forest god, has the ability to transform into an elemental drake, as she did during her fight alongside Talion and Celebrimbor against Tar Goroth and during her attack on Zog's resurrection ritual after Talion kills him for the last time. Gameplay Like many of the other beasts of Mordor, Talion and Celebrimbor can dominate and ride drakes after wearing their health down to a certain point. Drakes can not only fly, but also posses the ability breathe two types of fire: a stream of flame that can burn enemies upon the ground, and a charged fireball that explodes like a bomb upon impact. They can also attack graugs, though they are just as likely to survive the encounter as their victim. While flying, Talion can use a dive attack to grab orcs and Olog-hai from the ground. Another use for the drakes is as a flamethrower, trapping them in cages and forcing them to breath fire upon attackers as they try to breach the gates. Trivia *These drakes are possibly re-designs of the fellbeasts of the Nazgûl ("Hell-hawks" which is originally an alias of fellbeasts, appears as a different race in the game), though they feature several major differences from the those portrayed in the movies. The drakes of Middle-earth: Shadow of War are much bulkier than their film counterparts, and their hides much rougher. They appear much more crocodile-like, while the fellbeasts are more akin to serpents. Also, the fellbeasts were said to not have the ability to breath fire, instead utilizing a poisonous fume dubbed "the black breath." *The Appendices entry in Shadow of War mentions that these Drakes are cross between Fell Beasts and fire-breathing dragons engineered by Sauron. Since Smaug was the last known living Dragon of Middle-Earth for a long time, and the One Ring entry in Appendices clearly pointed out that Shadow of War happens after the Battle of Five Armies, it is still a mystery how these Drakes came to be in the game's canon. *They have a tendency to only target Talion on Gravewalker and Brutal difficulty, ignoring all other enemies and stopping only when he is dead. Gallery Bruno-camara-drake-01.jpg Bruno-camara-drake-03-0.jpg Bruno-camara-drake-02.jpg ho-chang-yuan-ho-chang-yuan-untitled-1.jpg shadow_of_war_fire_drake_by_giuseppedirosso_dbqayf0-pre.jpg E55F3ACD-1061-47D5-A553-162580E659A2.jpeg 5F8C94C9-844D-4F35-BC84-08006C15883F.jpeg CFDE7206-47AC-4541-9706-87A33D22F7F9.jpeg 0A306867-78E4-436A-80F5-85F4DDBFE867.jpeg|Drake in the sky D87052AF-50EE-4CBE-8BA0-FA4E285DCE45.png 64B8EE4E-8E01-46F3-BAF3-AE76DBE69F48.jpeg 71AA6BB0-92A8-45F2-9C12-9F917B90EDDC.jpeg|Drake in trailer F5F6B343-FD5F-4D16-B089-6BB4C319920F.gif|Furious Drake Shadow of War - Drake.jpg|Drake Concept art DNkkYyfUIAA9Fcj.jpg|Drake Concept art DNkkYymUQAAmpaM.jpg|Drake Concept art DNkkYygVQAADrDc.jpg|Drake Concept art References Links *Drakes on IGN *Drakes on LOTRO Wiki Category:Creatures Category:Middle-earth: Shadow of War Category:Enemies